guatz's Xanga

to a new neighbourhood

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:33:25 GMT

like our friendly Astro channels that moved to a new neighbourhood, i'm also moving to a new neighbourhood

come drop by for a cuppa tea when you're free! tata!

turtles

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:42:07 GMT

read this in issue no. 3 (2007) of the WWF "Green Heart" magazine that is sent to my house since i donate every quarterly...

TURTLE RESCUE

It was a clear night on the 18th of April with stars shining brightly. when a hawksbill turtle came ashore Tanjung Kling beach in Melaka and attempted to nest. She tried to climb over some rocks but unfortunately toppled over and literally "turned turtle" *. The stranded creature was spotted and rescued by a local femal angler in the wee hours of the morning. The Good Samaritan, together with her friend, carried the hawksbill back to the home in a misguided effort at care-taking. She then informed the Department of Fisheries (DoF), who promptly brought the turtle back to Tanjung Kling beach to be released. DoF, under the supervision of the State Director of Fisheries Tuan Hj Zawawi b. Ali, together with WWF-Malaysia, tagged the hawksbill. Then with the help of local fishermen, she was released soon after bearing the tag numbers on her fore flippers.

*HAHAHAHHAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "turned turtle"!!!! i thought that was hilarious!!!

poor thing must have been in distress.. thank God for kind humans, though initially misguided, at least she's back into the sea. Hope she found a safe place for her babies..

i want a guy...

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 03:17:15 GMT

got this from Joan Lynn's blog (dunno who to credit this to though.. sorry, whoever you are, thank you!)

For the record, i thank the LORD for blessing me with the almost perfect guy

God is good... and He grants us the desires of our hearts, when we delight in Him (Ps. 37:4)

janice

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 15:11:30 GMT

some pictures of my niece... She'd be two years old in December...

very cute and very different from her older sister

Here she is enjoying her ability to scribble on paper..

ooo... i can make lines!!!

hmm... *deep in creative thought*

*scribble, scribble, scribble..*

hey! my pencil's not sharp!!

monkey dance! (drawing intermission)

can i draw on the ironing board?

for fun...

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 08:45:02 GMT

Saw this in ben yue's blog.. kinda cool...

First choose your gender, if you are a guy or girl, do the questions respective to your own gender…

Questions for

Gals:
1.What turns you on? Guys in boxers or guys in brief or nothing at all or…?
hahaha! I'm sorry, i find this funny... anyway, I actually prefer guys fully dressed and dressed well - ie something that complements them and makes them look good & healthy & attractive. But of course, need that healthy body to go with it lah..

2.Would you buy flowers 4 a guy as a present?
yes, unless he has explicitly said that he hates it or is allergic to flowers.

3.If your bf doesnt have a car, would you drive him around?
of course!

4.Hot guy in a party, would you approach him? If yes, how?
i might, if he looks / seems friendly. how? find a mutual friend and make introductions, or if he seems nice and not sleazy , just go up to him and say hi and intro self.

5.Is size really that important?

hah? shoe size ah? nope, not important...

6.He is the guy of your dreams. Would you play hard to get?
no As it is, already so difficult to find THE guy AND have him interested in you, still wanna play around ah?? Not wise. But of course, not to jump into it too quickly also lah...

7.He is an hour late for your date. Would you still go out with him on that date or have a girls night out?
if he was uncontactable and he arrives 1 hour late, i'd thank God Almighty that he's not dead in a ditch somewhere, and then find out what happened and THEN only decide if the date should continue. If date discontinues, i'd just stay home and read and sleep

8.You burped when you are kissing. How would you handle this situation?
laugh it off He would know me well enough already for me to be kissing him, hence he'd understand and just laugh as well. Besides, can someone burp WHILE kissing? hmm...

Guys:
1.What do you look at when you see a girl? The boobs or the butt or…?
2.How do you feel about plus size women? Would you date her?
3.Choose between your mom or you girlfriend.
4. Your place or mine tonight?
5.There is a hot gal at the party? How would you approach her? Would you do it if you are already attached?
6.Where or what would you do with your hot date if you are on a budget?
7.She has a stain on her shirt at her chest area. Would you tell her?
8. She spends more time with her gay best fren that hang out wit you. Would you be jealous?

that was fun... give it a try if you're interested..

mix 'n' match

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:21:45 GMT

it occurred to me the other day about inter-continental relationships.

i happen to know quite a number of malaysian / asian women who are married to white Australian or New Zealand or British or American men. Inter-continental. And it's not just the married ones, but also the ones still in the courting stages.

but the funny thing is that, i don't know as many malaysian / asian MEN who are married to white Australian / NZer or British or American etc. women.

Why is that? I'm sure this topic has been discussed before by others but i never got the conclusion of it. How is it that Caucasian men are more attracted to Asian women but Asian men aren't as attracted to Caucasian women?

Because i know of Asian male friends living overseas and though surrounded by Caucasian females, they still somehow end up with an Asian girl. Yet, it's the other way around for Asian females - it's more likely than less likely that they'd end up with a Caucasian male.

So what happens to the Caucasian females if the Caucasian males are marrying Asian girls and Asian men are ALSO marrying Asian girls?

my sister once said that British men usually end up with Indian ladies and American men end up with the Chinese ladies. weird... but maybe it's just cause there are many more Indians in the UK in proportion to the US?

hmm...

wedding

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:07:45 GMT

went to the lovely town of Ipoh on June 2nd to witness the wedding of my cousin sister, Chu Wai Sheong, who is a year older than me and we all used to play together during the school holidays. She looked beautiful - composed, calm, just like a bride Didn't get to speak to her other than "hi!!" since there were so many ppl and all. sigh.. that's the unfortunate thing about weddings - ppl come just to see you look nice and you see them for 2 minutes to thank them for coming and hope they enjoyed the meal, and that's it. It's done. Hence, i'm all for simple, casual weddings without all the legalistic traditions passed down from dunno when...

oh well - i guess this wedding was more of the other family members and friends - for THEM to catch up So, your wedding is a convenient reunion time. Like your funeral.

anyway, here are some photos...

groom (fook keong) arrives with his entourage and gifts which included 2 LIVE chickens!!

One hen and one rooster - old tradition has it that you put them under your wedding bed and after the 1st wedding night between husband and wife, the chicken that first runs out from under your bed in the morning would be the sex of your 1st child. hmmm....

well, when i left the house, my dad had tied the chickens in the backyard to a mango tree and they were happily pecking on the ground.

The traditional "Do whatever we tell you so that we let you into the house to fetch the bride" game. The girlfriends were rather mild. oh well, poor guy is standing outside there in the heat with a coat on. They were merciful.

stuff the groom was made to drink - 4 cups representing the bitter, sweet, sour and salty (i think). I have no idea where that tradition came from or what it even represents forgot to ask.. i assume it's preparation for the groom to undergo all sorts of trials and good times in the marriage i guess..

i LOVE this picture! that's my dad and that's the cake!!! My cousin sister had painstakingly drawn the picture of a pig for the bakery to make the cake. Cause her surname's Chu and the whole family had been identified fondly as "pig" ever since i can remember. unfortunately she didn't get to see it whole cause we were all rushing to cut it up and give a portion of it (the body) back to the groom side in return of the gifts he had brought.. sighh.. so many traditions...

and here they are - the groom obviously was successful in fetching the bride out of the room... Yeah, my cousin is taller than him..

and out they go... To the groom's side for the tea ceremony...

left us at home to get ready for the luncheon. That's my aunt, the mother of the bride with my dad (ie her brother) holding my niece, Kathy, and there's my sister..

the father and mother of the bride ready to go... my aunt looked stunning! have to lah, since this is the last kid in the family to get married... no more chance

Kathy & Siew Boon, my cousin's daughter - the first great grandchild of my paternal grandmother. She's 16 now.

the cousins. All the males are married and all the females in the picture are not. Go figure!

Andrea (my aunt's new daughter-in-law) and Wai San - the bride's eldest sister who's pregnant with 2nd kid.

Janice!!! my 1 1/2 year old niece and Swee Lin, my sis in law

Kathy & her grandpa

The toasting ceremony

and finally, the tea ceremony - presenting the tea to my bro and sis in law, introducing the new married couple (though the fact is that they are already legally married since early this year)

So, that's it! i should have taken a photo of the wedding decor of the wedding car. pretty cute - heart shaped balloons tied to the boot with the words "Just Married" written over it with liquid paper! hahahah!!!

Congrats, Wai Sheong and Fook Keong!!

Apples, Bees and Cheddar Cheese

Mon, 21 May 2007 08:25:44 GMT

was browsing for devotional material for youth (based on our discussion during the nehemiah bible quiz training on Sunday with some of those who attended (thank you for being there!!)), i found this by Josh McDowell at http://www.josh.org/devotions/youth_devotions.asp

Youth Devotion for May 21

Copyrighted material.

Apples, Bees and Cheddar Cheese

Bible Reading: Psalm 65: 9-11 “You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance” (Psalm 65:11, NIV).
If you were to make a list of the things God has given you, how long would it take you? An hour? Two hours? A day? A week? It’s easy to forget how generous God has been to us. He’s given us family and friends, and things like freedom and fun and food (and that's just some of the words that start with “f!”). In fact, God’s generosity spans the whole alphabet:
apples
bees
cheddar cheese
dalmatians
eyesight
frothy seas
ginkgo trees
honeydew melons
ice
jelly beans
kiwi fruit
licorice
music
noses
orchids
playful puppies
quilts
rivers
spectacular sunsets
teeth Ursa Major (the big dipper)
vines
winter sunshine
X-rays
yesterdays
zucchini

When we stop just a moment to think about it, it’s not hard to see that God’s generosity is impossible to measure. His generosity is astounding. He didn’t have to give us anything. He didn’t have to bless us with birds, and bees, and cheddar cheese! He could’ve stopped giving us good things after creating sunrises and summer breezes--but he kept going, all the way to zebras, zephyrs, zinc, zinnias, and zwieback (look it up; it’s in the dictionary)!
But that’s the kind of God he is. Generosity is a part of God’s nature and character, and that’s what makes generosity right: it’s like God.

Review: A popular old hymn says that God “giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.” What do you think that means? What makes God so generous?

Reflect: Generosity is right because it’s like God. Can you ever be as generous as God? Why or why not? Can you be more generous than you are now? If not, why not? If so, how?

Reinforce: Make your own list of God’s generosity, using each letter of the alphabet (you might even try to make two lists: one of God’s generosity to everyone, and the second listing God’s generosity to you specifically (it could include names of friends, family members, favorite songs, etc.).

Remember: “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8, NIV).

cool eh?

so, what i did was to list down alphabetically the things/people that God has so generously blessed me with. the list is not exhaustive of course, and if i think harder i'm sure there would be more "important" things i would be grateful for - but from the top of my head, this is what i came up with:

airplanes
babies
colin
dad
electricity
funny jokes (even lame ones!)
guitars
health
identity
jam tarts (esp. pineapple ones)
kathy (my niece)
light
motherly figures
navigation (can't think of anything else )
orang utans
pain (that's how i know i'm alive)
quiet times
rest
sunsets & sunrises
telephone
umbrellas
videos
water
x-treme sports (again, what other stuff starts with "x"?? )
yolk (esp. hard boiled)
zebras (can't think of anything else due to my limited vocabulary skills :-p)

go ahead, you give a try and make a list. Quite fun, i tell you and praise God for all His blessings!

test time...

Fri, 18 May 2007 01:11:15 GMT

click on the link :)

how well you know mua?

enjoy... :)

A.W. Tozer

Thu, 10 May 2007 23:44:20 GMT

Am reading A.W. Tozer - excellent Christian writer - i love all the classics, secular and Christian. The style of writing is so much more sophisticated and literary. For Christian classics, it's awe-inspiring and God-fearing, and the depth of the writing and passion of the writer just makes you want to love and obey God more! So much more motivating than the many "to-do" or "how-to" books being published today.

Here's an exerpt of a short article Tozer wrote titled "Our Christian Obligation to Care" (written between 1950-1963):

The testimony of the true follower of Christ might well be something like this:

The world's pleasures and the world's treasures henceforth have no appeal for me. I reckon myself crucified to the world an d the world crucified to me. But the multitudes that were so dear to Christ shall not be less dear to me. If I cannot prevent their moral suicide, I shall at least baptize them with my human tears. I want no blessing that I cannot share. I seek no spirituality that I must win at the cost of forgetting that men and women are lost and without hope. If in spite of all I can do they will sin against light and bring upon themselves the displeasure of a holy God, then I must not let them go their sad way unwept. I scorn a happiness that I must purchase with ignorance. I reject a heaven that I must enter by shutting my eyes to the sufferings of my fellow men. I choose a broken heart rather than any happiness that ignores the tragedy of human life and human death. Though I, through the grace of God in Christ, no londer lie under Adam's sin, I will still feel a bond of compassion for all of Adam's tragic race, and I am determined that I shall go down to the grave or up into God's heaven mourning for the lost and the perishing.

And thus and thus will I do as God enables me.

Amen.

Amen indeed. I pray I would be able to testify as to the above. Especially the part that I should seek no spirituality that I must win at the cost of forgetting that men and women are lost and without hope. People matter and they continue to hurt and be without hope while we are doing Bible studies, listening to sermons, attending church services and prayer meetings, giving a tenth of what we earn... not that any of it is bad, but let it not be at the cost of forgetting the people.. Sigh.. to me, it's easier to be "spiritual" or striving to be "spiritual" than being involved in people's lives and trying to give them hope. It is very discouraging when they do not respond or rejects my efforts. yet, I would like to choose to have a broken heart than any happiness that ignores the tragedy of human life and death. i hope i won't get depressed

... Nahh...